Use and Enjoy

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Posted on November 23, 2015

Even though I have decluttered quite a bit of stuff, I still have a lot of glassware and crockery in the sideboard that do not get used every day.

I recently cleaned out the drawer in the kitchen which hold the mugs and glasses. I off-loaded some of the odd glasses from the back of the drawer which were never used as well as some plastic tumblers which were all crazed and for which we no longer have the matching jug.

I could have left the excess space but instead, I decided to add 5 coloured glasses which have been in the sideboard.

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There were once 6 of these glasses which came from my parents’ place. I always loved them and they were for special occasions. It would be easy to fall into that trap but I decided that since I really like them I will use them every day. If they get broken I will not mourn, instead, I will be glad that had the opportunity to use and enjoy them.

I have not taken the time to respond to your comments on my previous post but I will do so, hopefully tomorrow.

Storage from the Sun

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Posted on November 22, 2015

When I wrote this post last month, I mentioned that we were getting a battery system for our solar panels.

Well, the installation was completed on Tuesday afternoon and since then all of our electricity consumption has been independent of the grid.

As well as the battery system we also have more panels.

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This is the cabinet which holds the batteries.

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Inside, it looks like this.

003 The interesting thing about the system which we have is that it is a hybrid system. In fact, we really have 2 banks of solar panels – the original ones which we have had for 5 years remain connected to the grid and any power generated is fed back to the grid with a monetary return to us. The only things that we have connected to this system are the oven and a single outdoor power point.

Everything else is powered by the solar panels of other system during the day and at night by the excess which is stored in the batteries.

This also means that we can power our home from the batteries (except for the oven) during any periods of power outage.

Following the completion of the battery installation on Tuesday, we have had four brilliant, sunny days. The screen shot below shows our generation and use and tells the story clearly and simply.

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This shows the last month and each bar is one day. The yellow bar shows the solar generation, the green line is power exported to the grid, the red line is our consumption and the black bar is power drawn from the grid. The last 4 days are since the battery system has been operational. Our solar generation is higher (we now have more panels), 100% of what we generated from the grid-connected panels was exported to the grid and most importantly, we have not used any power from the grid.

I know that every day will not be clear and sunny nor will we have as many hours of daylight as we are getting at the moment as we head towards the summer solstice. However, we are confident that we will continue to be able to supply our power needs independently of the grid.

There are numerous new technologies available for battery storage systems so it would pay to very carefully consider your circumstances before rushing into a decision like this. However, if you live in Australia and are interested in more details about our system please email me and I can get some information for you.

Food for Thought

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Posted on November 14, 2015

Every now and then I come across a discussion or comment (either in real life or on an internet forum) that stops me dead in my tracks.

The other day I read a comment where a teacher asked about a remark made by another teacher, that she would never eat any home-baked gift that was given to her and simply threw them out.

As if that was not enough to throw me for six, I was astounded by the robust online discussion that ensued.

Some of the issues that were raised included not buying home-made cakes from cake stalls, the hygiene standards of the kitchen, not eating anything from anyone unless you had intimate knowledge of their home and kitchen and so on.

Do these people ever attend a function where people bring a plate of food to share? Are their children allowed to attend birthday parties, where, heaven forbid, there may be home-made food? What about class parties at the end of term?

I can well understand people with food allergies being unable to accept food gifts but some of the other issues just seemed over-the-top to me.

I was not alone in my response as there were others (teachers and others) who said they welcomed and appreciated the home-made baking that was made and given with love.

Then the conversation headed in another direction as to the reason for giving gifts to teachers as they are ‘only doing their job’ and get paid like every other employee in any line of work.

Am I naive? What do you think? I am particularly interested to hear from teachers as well as parents who have given home-baked gifts. Will this revelation change your plans for Christmas gifts?

Tracking 2015 – October

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Posted on November 2, 2015

Is there such a thing as a normal month? Every month we seem to have expenses that are not repeated in any other month. I guess that is why I chose the exercise of tracking our spending over a 12 month period. Hopefully, I can gain some general idea when it is averaged over the whole year.

January – $5,144.53
February – $1,783.49
March – $4,350.56
April – $2,385.31
May – $5,961.54
June – $2,939.07
July – $3,537.09
August – $3,601.19
September – $9,406.95
October – $7,490.03

More than half of our spending ($4,300 in fact) for October was on upfront payments related to our overseas trip in 2016. We have paid for over a week of accommodation as well as train and ferry fares.

On the home front, food accounted for $273, I bought 2 pairs of summer sandals which set me back $330 while the somewhat broad category of ‘House and Garden’ continues to be a bottomless pit when it comes to spending. Does anyone else find that this is the case?

This has certainly been an eye-opening exercise and when the full year is complete I will add in the regular costs such as insurances, rates and so on to get an overall figure for our spending for the year. I have a feeling that it will be fairly scary.

The Painting Project

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Posted on October 19, 2015

Some years ago we had some major renovation work done which included replacing all of the old windows and the old vinyl cladding on the exterior. We chose a light colour – ‘Evening Haze’, I think, for the Colorbond cladding and a dark charcoal grey for the window frames.

While it was not a high priority at the time, we knew that one day we would repaint the besser block garage and workshop from the current salmon colour to something that would tone in with the windows and cladding. We subsequently decided on a fairly dark grey which we have already used for the fence posts for the vegetable garden and new front fencing. These are both close to the house and we did not want to introduce yet another variation to the colour scheme.

2 weeks ago we painted the first coat on the wall at the back of the workshop. Here is the before shot.

The new look.

We did not finish the exposed pipe because we ran out of time before we had to go out but GMan was back at it yesterday. He finished painting the pipe and did the second coat as well. This had to be done now as we are getting a battery system for our solar panels sometime in the next month or so and the battery bank will be placed against this wall. Over time we will get all of the exterior walls downstairs painted and finally eliminate the salmon paintwork forever.

The same weekend as we started the exterior painting GMan re-painted the feature wall in the lounge room. We originally had the television mounted on the wall and when that arrangement changed a few years ago we plastered and re-painted the wall but did not have enough to re-do the whole wall. Even though it was the same tin of paint as was used originally Gman was not happy with the result and we bought a new tin to re-do the whole wall. That had not happened but when we had to move the furniture to position the restored cabinet he decided that the time was right to do the painting so that is another job ticked off the list.

A Simple Storage Solution

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Posted on October 18, 2015

Several years ago we bought 2 free-standing hanging racks. They were for our daughters who were both living in accommodation that had no built-in wardrobes.

Fast-forward a few years and their circumstances changed and the hanging racks both ended up at our place. One was boxed up in the garage and after a while I sold it on Gumtree. The other was quite useful as I had it in the spare bedroom/sewing room. I also use it to hang clothes waiting to be ironed or wheel it into the lounge-room to dry clothes in front of the fire during winter.

I am working hard to streamline my sewing room and reduce the general clutter. When I sold the small chest of drawers that had previously lived in the wardrobe it meant that I could use the hanging rail in the wardrobe for the ironing that was yet to be done.

The hanging rack can be dismantled but it is difficult to store. I am not ready to part with it yet as it is useful during the winter months.I decided to make a storage bag. I found some pieces of very strong cotton fabric in my stash and fashioned a bag which was big enough to hold all of the pieces. I added a couple of ties and it was finished.

Here are a couple of photos showing the finished article doing its job – holding the disassembled hanging rack. I simply tied the ties in a knot over the rail at the desired length.

Now I am off to do some more sorting in the sewing room.

Have you got any creative storage solutions? Please share.

Moving the Furniture

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Posted on October 15, 2015

Gosh, it is 4 days later and I am yet to tell you about the rest of the furniture re-arrangements. You see, I have been too busy actually doing things to write about it.

I had already removed the storage boxes before I took this photo. I had earmarked this storage unit for my sewing room once the TV cabinet was restored and in place (see previous post).

Here it is in the new location in the corner of my sewing room. Not completely organised but a vast improvement on what things were like before.

This meant that I could permanently re-home a couple of my other storage solutions from the sewing room. A set of plastic drawers that I originally had for paperwork and documents when I was in a different job. It was re-purposed for the sewing a few years ago.

Now it has been emptied and has gone to a neighbour who was keen to have some more portable storage.

This small white chest of drawers was also used to store fabric and craft supplies. I bought it a few years ago from Gumtree and painted the bare chipboard with gloss white paint. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook it now has a new home not far from us.

The sewing room more strealined but still needs more work. Most of the other rooms in the house have been decluttered, simplified and generally remain as they should be but the sewing room seems to be the one spot that regularly defeats me. I have works in progress, things I have yet to start and general chaos but one day it will be sorted and mean that it is easier to actually sew rather than tidying. I live in hope and anticipation!

New to Us

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Posted on October 10, 2015

I have been looking on Gumtree for the past couple of months for an armchair to go in the vacant corner of our office/library. The space was created when we decided that we only needed one bookshelf rather than two. You can read about the previous steps of the revamping of this room here.

This morning I found a listing on Gumtree for 2 chairs which were to be sold as a pair. Although I really only wanted a single chair, we decided to take a look as it was not too far from home.

We bought the two chairs and by moving the bookcase slightly we can actually fit them both in.

They are solid timber and are over 70 years old. The current upholstery is in excellent condition and works perfectly in this room. It is great to be able to find quality furniture and give it a new home.

In preparation for more furniture re-arranging tomorrow I have sold this small chest of drawers.

They are nothing special, I bought them from Gumtree a few years ago when they were bare chipboard and painted gloss white. I have used them for storing material and craft supplies in my sewing room but now it is time to move them along. They will be collected tomorrow morning.

Come back tomorrow to see the newly re-vamped TV cabinet and more changes to the location and use of our existing TV stand.

One Last Look

Tracking 2015 – September

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Posted on October 3, 2015

Hold onto your hats! Money has been literally flying out the door this month!

This is a good example of why we save.

January – $5,144.53
February – $1,783.49
March – $4,350.56
April – $2,385.31
May – $5,961.54
June – $2,939.07
July – $3,537.09
August – $3,601.19
September – $9,406.95

It was certainly no surprise to see that we had parted with almost $10,000.00 of our hard-earned cash in September.

As I mentioned last month, we headed to Singapore for a week and while we had already paid for our airfares and accommodation earlier in the year all of our other spending is included in a lump sum of $1,644.37 for the week. This comprised of spending on transport, sightseeing, admission costs, groceries, alcohol and eating out as well as a dress for myself and a birthday gift. We decided not to try to separate it into categories as it was all spent while we were on holidays. If you are interested you can see the full breakdown of the holiday spending here.

There were 2 other major expenses in September.

The first was $3,050 for a deposit on a hybrid battery system for our solar panels. There will be significant additional expense for this project sometime in the next month or so. This is a substantial upfront cost but we believe that it will be a worthwhile long-term investment that will save us even more money and allow a degree of independence from the power grid. The detail will be forthcoming in a future blog post.

The second large outlay of money was in the holiday category as we have booked our return airfares to Chicago for next year. I have been watching the release of airfares for 2016 and the pricing and decided that the time was right to secure fares available for the dates and times that we wanted to travel. Once again, there will be more details about that on my holiday blog. I hope to get a post written today.

However, on the spending upside, we only spent $55.89 on food for the entire month. Apart from a modest amount of fruit and vegetables as well as milk and cheese, we simply ate what we had available from the refrigerator, freezer, pantry and garden. I did not necessarily set out to minimise our spending on food and it was really more about not having the time or inclination to shop as well as being away for a week. It is good to know that we have plenty to sustain us if the need arises.